Passive investor wanting to get into the flipping business

[Matthew Barnauskas]

I purchased my first duplex two years ago and have been living on one side while renting out the other and making improvements to my side along the way. I finished improvements and purchased my 2nd duplex 3 months ago. One side was already occupied and pays the mortgage while the other was a total gut job. I am almost finished with this and will be moving in shortly to garner more rent from my first property. My plan has been to buy fixer uppers in nice areas to get quality tenants. Plan is working great so far. I have been wanting to get into the fix and flip side of real estate investing for a while. The searching/fixing/selling side of real estate is what really interests me. I was hoping to find someone in the Columbus ohio that is currently in the flipping business to allow me to "shadow" so to speak, the whole process so I can get a better idea of how to go about fixing and flipping. My biggest issue is how to gain enough capital to buy my first property. Most properties I find for potential flips would need cash offers. Should I go the hard money route to pay for these?